Algiers: Algeria’s state-owned energy giant Sonatrach plans to invest at least $70bn over the next 20 years to exploit shale gas in the southern desert, its managing director said yesterday.
The firm intends to press ahead with its plans despite huge public opposition in the In Salah area of the central Sahara where successful test drilling was announced last month, Said Sahnoun told state radio.
Sonatrach hopes to produce some 20 billion cubic metres of shale gas per year from 200 drill sites, Sahnoun said.
Schools, businesses and public offices in In Salah have closed since the start of the year to demonstrate their concerns about the environmental consequences, the Liberte newspaper reported.
In order to extract shale gas, a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals is blasted deep underground to release hydrocarbons trapped between layers of rock. AFP
